Protecting Our Communities

Welcome to my first update for 2017. It would be fair to say that a lot has happened since my last update was published in November last year.

Getting muddy for Caitlin
For those who know me, running and getting muddy is not something I particularly like to do, however I volunteered to take part in a Scorpion Run to help raise funds for the daughter of PC Craig Turner from our Coalville neighbourhood team.

Craig’s daughter Caitlin, was born prematurely at 27 weeks and suffered viral meningitis which led to hydrocephalus.

She is now 11 years old and at an age where despite those challenges she wants to be more independent. To help Craig’s colleagues wanted to raise some money to help purchase a specialist trike for Caitlin.

It was with this aim in mind that I took part in a Scorpion Run. This took place on a wet and cold Saturday in December in Staffordshire.

The event was a 10k (6.2 mile) off-road run with obstacles and lots and lots of deep mud and bogs. It took me 2 ¾ hours to complete, including the swim section where they had to break the ice, it was so cold it took my breath away. The photographs you can see from the event were taken near to the start. Unfortunately the camera battery died shortly after these were taken.

Suffice to say I was exhausted, wet through and filthy by the time I finished. Would I do it again? Bizarre as it sounds the answer would be, probably, yes.

However it was all worth it when we were able to total up all of the money that we raised. Colleagues from not only Coalville, but across the force including the Police Federation donated money and we were able to buy the trike for Caitlin, and a new laptop. Here is a picture of Caitlin riding her new trike.

Update from Christmas
In the last update I mentioned our licensee workshop and the start of our Safer Christmas campaign across North West Leicestershire.

During December we carried a vehicle crime awareness campaign, highlighting the need to remove valuables from unattended cars and vans, and to make sure they are locked. We combined this with personal safety awareness for shoppers in Coalville and Ashby.

Also in December we carried out an alcohol test purchase operation. We visited eight premises in Coalville, Ashby and Measham.

Three premises sold alcohol to a person who was under age. We have issued warning notices to those involved and we will be running further test operations in the future. My experience tells me that we need to ensure that all of our licensees operate to the highest standards, as this does have a positive effect on crime and anti-social behaviour in the area.

We will continue to work closely with the Pubwatch schemes in Ashby and Coalville, and North West Leicestershire District Council.

Elite Vehicle in Ashby
One of the important elements of our Celebrate Safely campaign is the provision of an Elite Medical Vehicle in Ashby on the weekends leading up to Christmas. We have done this for a number of years and is funded by the North West Leicestershire Community Safety Partnership. In the main this has helped people who are on a night out in Ashby with first aid and assistance and has proved to reduce demand not only for the police but the ambulance service.

On New Year’s Eve there was an incident in Ashby town centre in which a young man was assaulted. A paramedic from the Elite Medical vehicle was on the scene very quickly and was able to provide excellent first aid on a night when the ambulance service are under huge pressure and may not have been able to get there as quickly.

A 34 year old man has been arrested and charged in connection with this incident, and as the matter progresses through court I will keep you updated.

Tackling concerns about speeding
I know from the meetings me and my teams attend that speeding is a concern to many communities across North West Leicestershire. At the end of January the Forest neighbourhood team which covers the Measham area, carried out four speeding operations in Measham and Moira. During the course of the operations just over 200 vehicles were checked with only two travelling at a speed where enforcement action could be taken.

Although this indicates that speeding in those areas might not be as big a problem as we first thought, we will continue to carry out periodic speed checks not only in Measham and Moira, but right across North West Leicestershire.

Kayleigh’s Love Story
I mentioned in the last blog that the film Leicestershire Police have made about Kayleigh Haywood would be available publicly at the beginning of 2017.

On the 3rd January the film was made available across a range of channels including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

In the days that followed the film went viral and very quickly had been seen over 2 million times. At the time of writing the film has had 8 million views.

Despite seeing the film a number of times, I still find it very hard-hitting, and if you have not seen it then please take a few minutes to do so.

The film is part of our CEASE campaign, the Commitment to Eradicate Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of children and young people. Since we launched this campaign in February last year over 21,000 people have signed a pledge to look out for the signs that a child or young person may be in danger of abuse and exploitation. Please visit this link to sign our online pledge.

Kayleigh was from North West Leicestershire and we will continue to do all we can to make sure our children are safe.

Coalville police on the move
On a final note, I have mentioned in previous editions of this update the move to a new police station in Coalville. We will be jointly located with the Fire Service and in March work will commence to extend the fire station in Coalville. This should take seven months, so hopefully we will be moving in around October or November.

We will still continue to have enquiry facilities located at the reception desk at North West Leicestershire District Council, in Whitwick Road, Coalville.

That is all for now, enjoy the longer days, look out for my next update in May

Helena BhaktaCommander – North West Leicestershire Neighbourhood Policing Area

I don’t think it is too late to wish everybody a safe and happy New Year. One of my resolutions for 2017 was to write a regular update about policing in East Leicester, and to keep it, I have prepared this.

In the months since I have arrived I have been impressed by the hard work and dedication of the officers and staff who police East Leicester. I must also stress that we are supported by the community at large and in particular many agencies who do their best to ensure that the communities in East Leicester are safe and well.

BEM for Reg Varney

In my time as a police officer I have worked with many different people, some remain in the memory for only a short time, and others remain indelibly printed on your brain. It would be fair to say that PC Reg (Brian) Varney is in the latter category, and it would not be overstating the case to say that he is a ‘legend’, not only on the St Matthews Estate, but right across Leicestershire Police.

When I received the news that Reg was to be honoured in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list with a British Empire Medal (BEM) I was absolutely delighted. This is as a result of his service to the community of St Matthews who regard him as one of their own. To many he is simply known as ‘Ali Dhiri’ (I hope I have spelt that right), I understand in English that means the ‘tall one’. He certainly is tall, taller than me that is.

Day in and day out Reg embodies what being a police officer is all about, and he is never less than enthusiastic about what ever task he has been given. Reg was interviewed about the award and he was very quick to pay tribute to the team at East Leicester, his family, but most importantly the community.

From the many comments I have already had from many sections of the communities in East Leicester, there are a lot of people who are delighted for Reg, and we are very proud that one of our own has been honoured in this way.

I shall be writing to Buckingham Palace to make sure the Queen knows what to expect when Reg attends his investiture!

Tackling neighbourhood issues in Belgrave

In the run up to Christmas, the Belgrave policing team undertook an operation to tackle vehicle related issues in and around Doncaster Road. The DVLA and Leicster City Council were also involved. During the course of the day 14 cars were clamped for not having valid road tax, with a further four removed by the DVLA’s national wheel clamping partner, NSL, who clamp or impound any untaxed vehicles seen on the road.

Leicester City Council Civil Enforcement Officers issued fixed penalty notices to 13 vehicles that were parked illegally and ten drivers were warned for illegal parking. A total of 14 fly tipping incidents were reported and investigated by Leicester City Council City Wardens, which included eight fixed penalty notices that were issued in relation to bird-feeding and littering.

Police officers seized two vehicles for having no valid insurance, and issued five fixed penalty notices for causing an unnecessary obstruction.

This operation was undertaken as a result of a number of complaints by local people in the Belgrave area and will be repeated regularly. It was organised by PC Anil Mehta who is one of the neighbourhood officers and he told me that the feedback from people in the area had been overwhelmingly positive.

At the time of writing this update the team are undertaking another enforcement day, and I will give you an update in the next edition.

Staff moves
At the beginning of the year we said good bye to PC Lesley Marriott who has moved from our Stoneygate team to the policing team at Loughborough. Lesley had been here for 14 years and we were very sorry to see her go. Lesley, like Reg, had done some much for local people and is a ‘can do’ person who got the job done. She will be sadly missed here and will undoubtedly be a great asset to the team at Loughborough. I am sure you would want to join me in wishing her all the very best as she begins a new phase in her career.

Kayleigh’s love story
Many of you will be familiar with the tragic story of Kayleigh Haywood, a teenage girl from Measham in North West Leicestershire, who was raped and murdered in 2015 after being groomed online. Leicestershire Police has made a hard hitting film about Kayleigh. It was launched last year and has been shown to over 35,000 school children in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The full film is now available.

We have also had versions in different languages made, which can be found by visiting these links

The film is part of our CEASE campaign, the Commitment to Eradicate Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of children and young people. Since we launched this campaign in February this year over 21,000 people have signed a pledge to look out for the signs that a child or young person may be in danger of abuse and exploitation.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to write a regular blog about policing in Charnwood and here is my first one.

As I write we are investigating a series of crimes where a number of vehicles were damaged across the city and county. We received more than 60 reports of vehicles having their tyres slashed and rear windows smashed overnight on Sunday 1 January and Monday 2 January.

Reports have been received from a number of areas including Glenfield, Thurmaston, East Goscote, Rearsby, Frisby on the Wreake, Saxelby, Waltham on the Wolds.

Nothing was stolen during the incidents and at this stage we’re keeping an open mind as to whether all the reports are linked. We have undertaken extensive enquiries including house to house visits and a check for CCTV. We are taking these incidents very seriously and we have increased patrols in the areas affected by the incidents.

A number of men have been arrested in connection with this series of offences and they are currently on bail whilst we complete some further enquiries.

Tackling anti-social behaviour in Charnwood.
Just prior to Christmas, Charnwood Borough Council were successful in obtaining injunctions against six people who had been causing anti-social behaviour in Loughborough.

This followed a series of incidents in and around Loughborough town centre and included drug taking, begging, and using stairwells of a car park as a toilet.

Injunctions were granted against six people: Brett Bott (also known as Brett Tooby), Jamie Orchard, Adam Hill, Terry Spencer, David Fisher and Lisa Hutchinson. All are of no fixed abode.

As well as being banned from Beehive Lane car park, the injunctions forbid them from engaging in any drug-related activity, begging, littering and sleeping in public areas in Loughborough town centre; Queen’s Park; Steeple Row, Loughborough, and Beehive Lane car park. The injunctions last for two years and breaching the conditions means they could be arrested.

This situation was very much a last resort and came about after various agencies have tried to engage with the people concerned and offer support which was not taken advantage of.

We will continue to work hard with Charnwood Borough Council and our other partners to tackle anti-social behaviour in Charnwood.

Operation Lexical
Operation Lexical is our on-going crime and anti-social behaviour which is running in Charnwood and in particular Loughborough. In the run up to Christmas we focussed on house burglary and in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University, we targeted insecure doors and windows. In previous years we have had a problem with house burglaries where properties have been left insecure. I am delighted to say that when we carried out our patrols the overwhelming majority of houses we visited were secure with very few doors and windows left open. Hopefully this will translate into lower numbers burglaries that we have reported to us. I should have more information about that in my next blog.

In the mean-time our key crime prevention message in relation to burglary is:

lock all windows and doors

leave a light on or use a light timer to give the appearance your home is occupied

Kayleigh’s love story
Many of you will be familiar with the tragic story of Kayleigh Haywood a teenage girl from Measham who was raped and murdered in 2015 after being groomed online. Leicestershire Police has made a hard hitting film about Kayleigh. It was launched earlier this year and has been shown to over 35,000 school children in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The full film has now been made available and has been viewed an astonishing 6 million times!

The film is part of our CEASE campaign, the Commitment to Eradicate Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of children and young people. Since we launched this campaign in February last year over 21,000 people have signed a pledge to look out for the signs that a child or young person may be in danger of abuse and exploitation. Please visit this link to sign our online pledge.

Now that the clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in, it would be an ideal time to remind everybody to take a few simple steps to prevent you from becoming a victim of crime.

make sure your home looks occupied by using automatic timer switches to turn on a light when it goes dark, even if you are just out for a couple of hours

keep doors and windows locked at all times – even if you pop outside to the garden or go upstairs

always lock doors behind you and remove the key from the lock

keep valuables, bags, cash and keys out of sight and keep them in a safe place

don’t leave packaging from expensive items outside your house – take it to be recycled or put them in the bin

install a visible alarm system and security lighting to act as a deterrent

prevent easy access to the back and sides of your home with locked gates or fencing

if you’re going away, don’t advertise it on social media

It’s that time again, Christmas is coming!
On Tuesday 8 November together with North West Leicestershire District Council we held our third licensee workshop.

This is an opportunity for the police, North West Leicestershire District Council and local licensees to meet and discuss our plans for the festive period and help achieve our aim of ensuring that everybody can go out and have a great night and be safe.

The workshop marks the start of our planned activities throughout November and December. We are fortunate to have a close working relationship not only with North West Leicestershire District Council, but also the pubwatch schemes in Ashby and Coalville.

Among the topics covered during the workshop were, child sexual exploitation, drugs awareness and drug seizure.

We also took the opportunity to show ‘Kayleigh’s love story’, which was made by Leicestershire Police and highlights the dangers or online grooming. The story of Kayleigh Haywood is well known to many local people and it is hard to believe that we are approaching twelve months since she was murdered.
The film has been shown to over 10,000 children in Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland and CEASE (Campaign for the Eradication of Abuse and Sexual Exploitation) has now received over 10,000 pledges. Kayleigh was a local girl and we will continue to do all we can to ensure that the children and young people of North West Leicester are safe. The film will be available publicly in January 2017.

On Saturday 3rd December 2016 at the Coalville & Ashby Light Switch-on, we will be launching our Christmas Celebrate Safely Campaign. We have support from Turning Point Drugs & Alcohol rehabilitation project, North West Leicestershire District Council, Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service, the Road Safety Partnership and our Street Pastors.

Our key messages are:

Personal Safety

Look after yourself

Enjoy alcohol sensibly and know your limits,

Drugs are illegal – don’t put licensees in a position where they have to refuse you entry.
Plan ahead

After a night out, how are you getting home?

Who are you going home with?

Book a cab at the start of the night

Property

Vehicles

Don’t leave valuables on display

Homes

If you are using candles ensure you put them out or use an electric candle

Invest in a light timer.

During the festive period we will be visiting licensed premises and we will be on the streets to educate local people, giving them the opportunity to take a non-evidential breath test which will indicate the amount of alcohol they have drunk. This will be accompanied with advice about calorie intake, safe limits, the ability to drive and to ask them to consider safe ways to get home having consumed alcohol.

To move or not to move?
Some time ago we announced our intention to move from the current police station on London Road. The intention was that we would build an extension to the Fire Station in Coalville and move into there.

I am delighted to say that construction of the new building at the Fire Station will start in the New Year. I do not have any dates for likely completion, I will keep you updated with progress.

North West Leicestershire volunteer cadets
At a recent ceremony held at Leicestershire Police headquarters, our volunteer police cadet team won the Saville Shield. This is an award for teams who volunteer for Leicestershire Police and this group of young people are an important part of the team at North West Leicestershire and are a credit to themselves.

Prince’s Trust attachment
PCSO Jason Harriman from the Ashby neighbourhood team recently returned from a twelve week attachment to the Prince’s Trust. This gave Jason an opportunity to share his skills as a neighbourhood PCSO and learn more about engagement with young people. Jason has a highly successful attachment and we have seen the benefit of this since his return.

Leavers and JoinersWe have had a number of changes to our staff.
Sergeant Audrey King who was the team leader for the Ashby and Forest Neighbourhood teams, has moved to Braunstone as a team leader on the Patrol and Resolution team. I would like to thank Audrey for her hard work and enthusiasm particularly her work on licensing.

Audrey’s replacement is Sergeant Colin Gardner who will be well known to many of you having worked at Coalville previously as a neighbourhood PC and Sgt.

PCSO Suzie Hunt from the Bardon Hill neighbourhood team has recently moved to Hinckley and Blaby Neighbourhood Policing Area where she will be part of the team policing Bosworth.

PCSO Jennie May from the Forest neighbourhood team has left Leicestershire police and is moving to Cheshire where she will become a police officer. Both Jennie and Suzie have been tremendous assets to the team here at North West Leicester police, and everybody here wishes them every success for the future.

As replacements for Jennie and Suzie I am delighted to welcome PCSOs Bekki Hales and Elena Chambers. If you see them out and about please take the time to stop them and say hello. I am sure they will be great assets to the team.

That is all for the time being, I am now in my fourth year as the police commander for North West Leicestershire and I continue to be proud of the work your police team do on your behalf to keep you safe.
If you see any members of my team whilst they are out and about, take the time to stop and say hello, I am sure they will appreciate it.

Wishing you all an early Happy Christmas and safe and prosperous New Year.

Helena BhaktaCommander – North West Leicestershire Neighbourhood Policing Area

Welcome to my latest update, it has been a busy few months since my update in April.

Kayleigh HaywoodAt the beginning of July, two local men were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment following the grooming, false imprisonment, rape and murder of Measham teenager Kayleigh Haywood.

Kayleigh was groomed online by Luke Harlow, before she was killed by his next door neighbour, Stephen Beadman, in the early hours of Sunday 15 November 2015.
At Nottingham Crown Court on the 1st July, Beadman, was given a life sentence, to serve a minimum of 35 years, after pleading guilty to murder and rape and being found guilty of false imprisonment.

Harlow, of George Avenue, Ibstock, was sentenced to a total of 12 years after being found guilty of false imprisonment and having pleaded guilty to meeting Kayleigh following sexual grooming, two counts of sexual activity with her, and two counts of attempting to meet two other girls following sexual grooming.

My thoughts as always, are with Kayleigh’s family and friends and I know this case has had a powerful impact across North West Leicestershire. Leicestershire Police have made a film about Kayleigh’s story which was shown extensively in Measham, Ibstock, and Coalville in early July.

In September, when the schools return all children aged 11 years and older in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland will be given the opportunity to see the film.
It is a powerful film and we are grateful to Kayleigh’s family for allowing us to tell her story and I am sure it will make a difference.

The film has attracted a lot of interest and all police forces have been given the opportunity to use it in their work with young people. I understand that once the programme for showing the film to schools has been completed then it will be released publicly.

Download Festival
In June we had the 2016 European Football Championships, and locally at the same time the Download Festival took place. I have to confess that I am not a massive fan of football, but I do know enough that England did not do very well, and the Welsh team did a lot better than expected.
For the police, the Download Festival was a massive success, despite the efforts of the weather to ruin it. This year only 42 crimes were reported to us, compared to 60 the previous year which we thought we would not be able to improve on after the excellent results from last year. Crime has now fallen, year-on-year, for three years and figures are at an all-time low.

2011 – 159
2012 – 195
2013 – 301
2014 – 92
2015 – 60
2016 – 42

I would like to pay tribute to the work of all of our neighbourhood officers to ensure that not only do we deal with 80,000 people visiting our area for the five days of the festival, but also carry on with normal day to day policing.

Rural Watch

In February this year Leicestershire Police set up Rural Watch, to create a network of villagers, farmers, churches and businesses that can work together to address local policing issues, share information and combat crime affecting parts of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Rural Watch brings together several existing schemes, including Horse Watch, Church Watch and Farm Watch, which have been operating across Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, to create a bigger network and to help ensure everyone has access to advice and information.

Rural Watch is open to anyone who lives, works or visits rural locations in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. For more information about the scheme, and to find crime prevention advice on a range of topics, visit RURAL WATCH
If you are interested in joining the scheme please email your details to rural.watch@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk

You can also follow Rural Watch on twitter @Leicsruralwatch or on Facebook/leicsruralwatch

VolunteersIn North West Leicestershire we are lucky to have a great set of volunteers who give up so much of their time to support policing and the local community. At Download each year we rely on our volunteers to help provide crime prevention advice, and we have an active group of Special Constables and Police Cadets.

In June Special Sergeant Lee Bennett won the Outstanding Leader award at the Leicestershire Police Volunteers in Policing award ceremony. I must congratulate Lee on his well deserved award. More recently our specials have not only been assisting on day to day work but also when we have executed search warrants.

Our Police Cadets are a great bunch of young people who are learning about policing as well as undertaking initiatives in the community. On the 1st July Leicestershire Police held a memorial service to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first day of the battle of the Somme. Emily Monk, who is a cadet from North West Leicestershire, along with several cadets from around Leicestershire attended the service. Emily volunteered to give one of the readings at a ceremony that proved to be very moving.

If you would like to know more about volunteering, please visit this link VOLUNTEERING

In March I attended the Police and Crime Commissioners’ launch of the Campaign to Eradicate the Abuse and Exploitation of children (CEASE). It brought key agencies together to share learning and best practise. CEASE is a major, multi-agency campaign to tackle child sexual exploitation in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. We would like the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to play their part too, by coming together to make a very public commitment that the abuse and exploitation of children will not be tolerated and help to ‘spot the signs’ to prevent young people coming to harm.

You can support this and give your online pledge by visiting this link CEASE or text CEASE to 87007 from your mobile phone.

AWARDS for NORTH WEST LEICESTERSHIRE STAFF

I was very proud to attend a recent award ceremony hosted by the Chief Constable at our Force Headquarters where PCSO Kev Bradley was Highly Commended in the PCSO of the Year awards. I would also like to thank PC Underwood and Castle Donington Parish Council for nominating Kev for his contribution to the local community. Kev and the Parish Council have undertaken some excellent initiatives.

We have a proud history of our staff being recognised for their work in our communities, and PC Steve Harrison the Dedicated Neighbourhood Officer for our Forest Neighbourhood covering Measham, Moira and surrounding areas, was also rewarded with a Chief Constable’s Commendation for Outstanding work in recognition for the great work he has carried out on his neighbourhood.

Nominations are now open for the Leicestershire Police Beat Bobby of the Year. If you would like to nominate your local officer you can do so by visiting this link. BEAT BOBBY

If you would like to know who your local officer is please visit this link LOCAL OFFICER

OUT and ABOUT
In my last newsletter I informed you of the multi-agency work being undertaken to ensure the communities of North West Leicestershire Celebrated Safely over the Christmas and New Year. We were particularly grateful to the support from local licensees and Hermitage FM to promote our campaign. Again our fantastic street pastors were out on all the key nights. Our crime prevention giveaways of purse bells, bottle stops and mobile phone bunjees were well received.

Although the number of incidents associated with the night time economy increased by only 10 reports was marginally the overall seriousness of incidents was reduced. The Community Safety Partnership Funded ambulance, treated 18 people under the influence of drink. This ensured people were well looked after and that the emergency services were able to attend to priority cases.

We are looking to build on this work as we prepare for the summer and in particular Euro 2016 in June and July. England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have all qualified with England and Wales in the same group. Although I must confess I do not know a lot about football, I know enough to say that there will be a lot of interest in the England v Wales result.

Along with North West Leicestershire District Council we have well established plans for policing licensed premises in the area and will be working hard to ensure that everybody has a safe and enjoyable time.

Two of England’s three group games are in the week, and I would advise you to take great care and avoid the ‘after the night before’ effect when driving to work the following day, and ensure that you have plenty of time from your last drink and when you set off.

DRUGS ARREST
On 27th November 2015 Thomas Neilson (32 years) and Brendon Evans (26 years), were arrested following the execution of a search warrant at an address in Measham. Both men have been jointly charged with possession with intent to supply class B drugs. Neilson was further charged with allowing his premises to be used in the supply of drugs. They are bailed to court until 27th May 2016 at Leicester Magistrates Court.

ASB PROJECT
The National Forestry Commission (Conkers) continues to part fund a local youth diversionary project. You may recall they secured funding from Asda. Each course accommodates 15 students and is one day a week for 10 weeks. Referrals are made through the Joint Action Group with the police and youth services providing staff. The focus is on addressing behaviour, its effect and understanding its impact on others. Informal & educational inputs are provided. Last year we rantwo courses with 24 people out of 29 who started, completing the course. In the 3 months prior to the course these young people were known to have committed 45 incidents of anti-social behaviour. In the three months during and after the course, six incidents were committed by four of the original participants. This is a significant decrease in offending; 25 youths stopped offending.

A big thankyou to Michael Ballentyne and his team at Conkers that have made this work possible.

Fresh off the press. We have recently conducted a multi-agency ANPR operation in Ibstock.

A total of 55 vehicles were stopped. 8 tickets were issued for offences of no seat belt, mobile phone and no insurance. One vehicle was seized, and a total of 55 vehicles were stopped and advice was given to a number of drivers regarding minor defects. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs tested 20 of the vehicles for red diesel. The Environment Agency dealt with 9 drivers for not have the necessary waste permit for materials being carried. The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) issue a prohibition in relation to a vehicle defect and advised on a number of other matters.

North West Leicestershire police officers clock up the miles delivering cycle safety presentations.

Police officers and Police Community Support Officers from North West Leicestershire cycled over 480 miles in a cycle challenge which took place in the two weeks leading up to the Easter holidays.

The cycle challenge involved 13 officers cycling to primary schools in North West Leicestershire and delivering cycle safety and crime prevention presentations. 11 schools were visited and over 1600 children received the presentation.

PCSO Jenny May from North West Leicestershire Police, who was the coordinator for the initiative, thought it would be a good idea to see if officerscould clock up 180 miles, in recognition of the 180th anniversary of Leicestershire Police.

It quickly developed beyond that to cycling to schools to deliver the presentations as well as seeing who of our officers could amass the most miles. The presentations were focussed on, road safety, being visible and cycle safety and maintenance. We also covered cycle crime prevention.

PCSO Pat McDonald from the Valley Safer Neighbourhood Team managed to cycle 128 miles during the challenge, more than 20 miles more than any other officer. We will also be holding other cycle related events.

TEAM CHANGES
You will be seeing some beat team changes in the next couple of months. Valley neighbourhood team welcomes PC Lou Gravenall, a very experienced officer formerly working Coalville Town.

PCSO Julie Ryan from the Bardon neighbourhood team, has made a difficult decision to leave us for pastures new. She is a well-known local character she will be sorely missed by us all. We wish her well.

I still can’t believe Spring has arrived. The Download planning meetings remind me it is short stride to Summer. We have launched our Spring campaign to combat thefts from sheds and out-buildings. It is worth reviewing your security and investing in a padlock or even a shed alarm. For crime prevention and security advice please visit this link Garden crime prevention